Slippery Shoe Leather

One of my pairs of shoes gets quite slick inside as soon as my feet get just a little damp. My feet certainly slide around in my other shoes a little bit more when they start to sweat, but this pair feels like I have covered my feet with teflon and thrown in some ball bearings. I don't know if my nasty feet spawned some fungus or I somehow permeated the shoe with soap, but it is awful.

Only one pair is like this. All the others are completely fine.

Has anybody else had a similar experience or have any thoughts? I've spent some good time with a sponge without any real progress.

If your feet can slide around then you probably need tighter shoes.

You can wash climbing shoes. Bucket of cold water, mild powder detergent. A toothbrush will let you reach to scrub back by the toes. Rinse thoroughly after to remove the soap. Air dry by putting in a well ventilated area with a fan pointed at the shoes. I've found this clears out the funk, and doesn't impact the fit or performance of the shoe. 

Once you've done this, get in the habit of letting your shoes air out and dry between sessions. Don't store them enclosed in a back - that's how they start growing the funk.

JCM wrote:

Once you've done this, get in the habit of letting your shoes air out and dry between sessions. Don't store them enclosed in a pack - that's how they start growing the funk.

This plus 1000! Also rotate between at least two pairs of shoes 

Greased tube sock gang. I used to have to wash my shoes every 2 weeks to avoid this, but now i just wear a thin sock in my shoes. It helps a ton with smell and grease. I also find it doesn’t really affect how I climb at all and makes old busted up shoes feel tight and high performing again. In fact, I think it helps my climbing, because my feet don’t slide in my shoes at all now and that makes footholds feel way more solid.

And before people jump on me for not airing out my shoes properly, I live in a desert, keep my shoes on a carbiner outside my bag, and usually downsize 1-4 full sizes below street. My feet just like to make it rain at the slightest provocation and it sucks.

If you want to stay sockless though, I have experimented with the washing machine to clean shoes. A nickel of detergent in each shoe, toss them in an old harness mesh bag, cold delicate cycle, rinse thoroughly by hand after, then let em air dry for 2-3 days, good to go. Done this on synthetic shoes, moccs, tc pros, etc and as long as you don’t let them dry in a weird position, they fit just the same as before after 5-10 minutes of use.

https://mycarpe.com/products/foot?variant=34043179139205

I Use their products on my hands and it works great

Kevin Mokracek wrote:

https://mycarpe.com/products/foot?variant=34043179139205

I Use their products on my hands and it works great

Ever heard of antihydral? Its made in Germany.
You can get it on amazon, and from the mouth of Alex Handhold himself, it's what he uses on his tips. Gots to be careful with the stuff though as if used to liberally, skin will start to crack. Its powerful stuff.

Mr Rogers wrote:

Ever heard of antihydral? Its made in Germany.
You can get it on amazon, and from the mouth of Alex Handhold himself, it's what he uses on his tips. Gots to be careful with the stuff though as if used to liberally, skin will start to crack. Its powerful stuff.

That’s what Carpe is, it’s an antihydral 

You wouldn't want to put Antihydral on your hands every day... this carpe stuff says you can apply multiple times a day.
Antihydral's active ingredient is Methenamine, Carpe is Aluminum Sesquichlorohydrate at 15%. Different stuff, despite them both being "antihydral".

Socks. For all the reasons John Clark mentioned.

Mr Rogers wrote:

You wouldn't want to put Antihydral on your hands every day... this carpe stuff says you can apply multiple times a day.
Antihydral's active ingredient is Methenamine, Carpe is Aluminum Sesquichlorohydrate at 15%. Different stuff, despite them both being "antihydral".

Rhino Dry Spray would be a better choice than Antihydril. Same active ingredient, but a bit less potent and a less messy delivery medium.

Rhino is marketing foot drying as an "on label" use for it now - it's not just for the hands.

Another vote for socks.